Duke of Edinburgh
Duke - Camp Two
The Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award is a program that is available to the Year 9 students of Kilbreda, where services, physical recreations and skills are required to complete over a course of roughly three months.
In addition, a part of this Award is the adventurous journey which is available for students to take. The adventurous journey is an aspect where the student experiences adventure and discovery as they head out into the wilderness.
On Thursday 14 March, 14 students went on a Practice Camp to Phillip Island and went on a hike of roughly 20 kilometres where they experienced two days of perseverance, agony and separation anxiety from their phones. Though the hike was not all bad, there were many jaw-dropping views as the hike went on, and it was a great opportunity to connect more with others and cheer each other on.
Some people took the hike slowly, conserving their energy and relaxing whilst others decided to run up hills and race each other. We also had fun blogging our experience on a camera and taking pictures of the amazing views.
At night, for dinner, we cooked our own dinner. Some people brought an easy, light snack such as instant noodles whilst others decided to share meals and make pasta.
Then there was trouble on the next day. As we all awoke, there were people complaining that their muscles were sore but luckily enough, the packs that we carried were lighter as most of the food was emptied out from the night before.
The second hike was a more peaceful one with amazing views. The Duke of Edinburgh Practice Camp was a tiring, yet rewarding experience and I would personally be happy to do it again.
Amy Chy-Long
Year 9
Duke of Edinburgh Camp 2019
On Tuesday 12 March, the first group of Year 9s participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award set off on their practice hike. After the bus ride to Phillip Island, we arrived to heavy rainfall, cold temperatures and intense winds, but after a while of waiting in the bus for the weather to clear, we were ready to collect our packs and begin the first stretch of the hike.
It was a 5km hike to our lunch spot on the beach at Kilcunda, and when we got there, let me tell you – that break was well deserved! The choppy sea and strong winds made for some great photos while we stopped, but the break was short-lived, as the next stretch of our hike would be the cause of much pain and exhaustion. For 14km, we battled with our packs on and our tired legs and feet, but when we finally sighted the buses waiting for us in the distance, we all definitely, teachers included, breathed a sigh of relief.
After putting up our tents we cooked dinner on our little trangia stoves. There was a wide range of meals including chicken noodles, beef noodles… more noodles – and for some, pasta. We did enjoy our dinner after such a tiring day. After a group meeting with the teachers, it was off to bed in our tents for a somewhat unpleasant but well needed rest to energize ourselves for the hike to come.
On Wednesday, we woke up early to drive to our next hiking spot along the beach. It was a beautiful walk along the dunes and cliffs above the ocean, and the view was beautiful all day. Even though there were some challenging hills, especially with our bruises from the day before, once we got back to the bus it was all worth it.
On the bus ride back to school, sitting down for more than 5 minutes at a time came as a great relief and after some bad singing along the way, we arrived back at Kilbreda.
Alex Bonsall
Year 9